We've Met Before (On Opposite Sides Of A Phony Cold Gun)
by LarielRomeniel
Summary: Cisco brings an unexpected guest to the Arrow lair. Canon compliant through the 2016 season finales for "Arrow" and Legends of Tomorrow." Divergent from the season finale of "The Flash."
1. Chapter 1

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was supposed to simply be some Quentin/Leonard interaction. Then Felicity and Cisco got in on the act. Not quite sure where this is going, so bear with me. And many thanks to Jael for looking this over multiple times.

This is part of a series called "Marking Time." This story falls somewhere between "Dad Can Fix Anything (But Not This)" and "Not Our Song."

The characters, as always, belong to the folks at DC Entertainment.

* * *

Felicity wiped nonexistent dust off her already immaculate workstation one more time, and took one more look around the newly refurbished Arrow lair.

Quentin chuckled at her. "You've got everything shipshape and Bristol fashion, Felicity. What are you so nervous about?"

"I'm not nervous!" Felicity protested, a bit too loudly. "But the last time we rebuilt the lair according to Cisco's instructions, I made a big mistake with the wiring and he noticed it the moment he walked in. I want to make sure everything is just right this time, so he can focus on installing the new gear."

"I'm sure it's all fine," Quentin reassured her. "So how long is this supposed to take, anyway?"

"Well, when we originally scheduled this, Cisco said it would take three or four days," Felicity answered. "But now he says he has a new security expert who's really helped them at S.T.A.R. Labs, and he's bringing him along. So now he expects they'll be finished by tomorrow night, before Oliver gets back from the conference of mayors in Washington."

"And they're trusting this expert with all their secrets?"

Felicity shrugged. "Cisco says it's someone they've worked with before. He just joined their team full-time."

"Well, I hope they don't mind an unemployed cop hanging around," Quentin said. He leaned back and put his feet up on the desk Felicity had set up for him. "I may not know much about computers, but I do know a thing or two about security."

Felicity smiled and patted his shoulder. "I'm sure they'll be fine with it. And Cisco will love coming up with a code name for you."

Quentin rolled his eyes. "Spare me."

"Did I hear someone needs a code name?" Quentin groaned a little as Cisco Ramon virtually bounced into the room, trailed by a tall figure hanging back in the shadows.

Cisco gave the new lair an appraising look. "Niiiiiiiiice! And you got the wiring right this time." He grinned at Felicity before giving her a hug.

"I followed your instructions to the letter," she told him. She glanced back at the other man, who was hovering near the display cases holding the team's battle gear. "So, who's your friend?"

Cisco glanced down, suddenly nervous. "Now, Felicity, promise me you won't freak out."

Felicity gave Cisco a quizzical look. "Whhyyyy would I freak out?" she asked slowly, her voice rising just a little on the last word. Quentin swung his legs down from the desk and narrowed his eyes.

"Because we've met before," the man in the shadows drawled. "On opposite sides of a phony Cold Gun."

Felicity stepped backwards, cueing Quentin to reach for the gun in his desk drawer as the stranger stepped into the light. He had close-cropped dark hair tinged with silver, and a hard-set face that had obviously seen its share of troubles. He wore all black, including a leather jacket that couldn't have been comfortable in the heat outside.

"Leonard Snart," Felicity said in a surprised voice.

The name clicked. "Snart. As in Captain Cold?" Quentin asked, rising from his chair and pointing the gun toward Snart, who raised his hands slowly. "You bring him _here_ and tell us not to freak out, Cisco? Are you _kidding_ me? He's a thief and a killer!"

"Quentin…" Felicity said quietly, while Cisco exclaimed, "Whoa whoa whoa!" He stepped between the other two men, arms spread out in a placating manner. "Do you really think I'd bring a bad guy in here? Do you even _know_ me?"

"I'm not sure, Cisco!" Quentin snapped. "I do know Snart's forced you into things before. Joe West told me what he did to your brother."

Snart nodded at that and said with a smirk, "Granted, I haven't exactly been a model citizen over the years. But let me point out that I'm unarmed, and that _you've_ got a gun pointed at _me_."

"He's working with us now!" Cisco protested as Quentin snarled, "And it's gonna _stay_ pointed at you until I get some answers!"

"Quentin!" Felicity said in a louder voice, putting her own hands up. "Just calm down for a minute! Everybody take a breath!"

She demonstrated with a deep breath of her own before turning to Snart. "I thought you were on that time travel mission with Ray and Sara," she said. She waved a hand at Quentin. "This is her father. Is she all right? And Ray?"

Quentin was surprised by the way the smirk fled the other man's face at the mention of Sara's name. "As far as I know, they're both fine, and so's the rest of the team," Snart answered quietly. "And as far as they know, I'm… _not_."

Quentin furrowed his brow. "The last time she was here, Sara said the team had lost someone," he remembered. "She said he died to save them. Went out a hero. That's all she would say, but I could tell it was tearing her apart." Sara had always been one to keep her secrets, and it seemed this man, this _career_ _criminal_ , might have been one of them. No wonder she hadn't wanted to tell him more.

But still… she'd said he went out a hero. "It was you, wasn't it? She thinks you're dead."

Snart lowered his hands slowly. "It's a long story. But yeah. I'm _supposed_ to be dead."

"One thing we've learned around here," Felicity interjected, "is that death is sometimes a temporary condition." Then she glanced at Quentin and winced. "But not always. Sorry. I'll shut up now."

"You're talking about Sara's sister. Laurel," Snart said in a surprisingly soft tone. At Quentin's look, he said, "Barry told me. I heard a lot about her from Sara… before. When I was still on the Waverider. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for Sara. And... I'm sorry for your loss."

Playing on someone's emotions to get their trust had to be one of the oldest tricks in the book, and if there was anything Quentin had learned in his decades as a cop, it was how to tell when a crook was playing him. There were certain tells that would give it away. There were also certain tells that would let you know when someone was completely sincere. And to Quentin's shock, Snart was being completely sincere.

He wasn't quite sure what to make of that. He lowered the gun and said, "Well, who knows when you've got time travel going on? You're not the first dead person who's walked in here. Maybe you won't be the last."

Felicity looked at him with sympathetic eyes. "Quentin…"

He waved it away. "Just let me have this little bit of hope, Felicity. It's all I've got." He took a deep breath and laid the gun down on the desk. "So, is being a bad guy also a temporary condition?"

One side of Snart's mouth twitched up, ever so slightly. "Well, isn't rehabilitation supposed to be one of the goals of the correctional system?"

"Iron Heights never seemed to do the trick for you," Felicity observed.

Snart's half smile grew just a touch. "Hatchet-faced guards and a pissant vocational training program aren't exactly the greatest motivational tools."

"But Sara motivated you?" Quentin asked, probing a little further.

Snart gave him a measuring look for just a moment. Obviously he'd learned to read cops just as well as Quentin had learned to read criminals. "The team motivated me," he said at last. "And the mission." A pause, and the half-smile faded as he said, "But yeah. It was mostly Sara."

Quentin let out a thoughtful sigh. "You and I need to have a talk later, Mr. Snart. I want to hear your long story. And I want to hear plenty about my baby girl."

Snart nodded silently in agreement. But there was _something_ in his expression, so Quentin asked, "But for now, just tell me… what was Sara to you?"

Yes, there was definitely something in those blue-green eyes. Snart's voice got a bit rough as he replied, "We never got the chance to find out."

Quentin studied him, thinking over what he was seeing now, and what he'd seen in Sara's eyes before she returned to her mission.

Snart might claim he didn't know what Sara really was to him, but Quentin could see it plain as day. That look was one of heartbreak.

And his baby girl's heart was equally broken.

The ex-cop and the (ex?)-crook regarded each other for a long moment. Cisco finally broke the silence by clapping his hands together once and rubbing them together.

"Oookaaay! We've got a lot of work to do, so can we all be friends now?" he asked brightly.

Quentin gave a single nod. "For Sara's sake," he said simply.


	2. Chapter 2

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter was harder to write than I expected. This story really was supposed to just be some Quentin/Leonard interaction, but Felicity really wanted to get in on the act.

Thanks to JaelK for the beta, which helped turn this in the right direction.

* * *

"So, how did you figure out it was a phony Cold Gun?"

Snart looked down at Felicity from his perch on the ladder. "I saw Cisco drag it out to clean up a mess in the lab," he answered with a smirk. "But I have to give all of you credit. You sold it well that night."

He finished tightening the bolts for the laser projector he was installing on the ceiling near the display cases and climbed down the ladder. "If I ever need help running a con, I know who to call," he told her, still smirking.

Was that his idea of a compliment? Felicity gave him a wary look as she leaned back against Quentin's desk. "I'm not sure whether you're joking," she said. "But you'd better not let Quentin hear you say anything like that."

Snart chuckled as he knelt to put his tools away in the case on the floor. "Point taken. And for the record, that _was_ a joke." He closed the case and stood again. "I was onto you three the minute I saw those flashing lights."

"So much for my future career in crime!" she said with a touch of sarcasm.

That got another chuckle from him as he walked alongside the display cases, inspecting his work along the ceiling. He stopped in front of Oliver's suit. "I don't think your fiancé the Green Arrow, AKA Oliver Queen, would approve of you becoming a grifter," he said.

Felicity narrowed her eyes at him. "How did you know…?"

He turned back to her. "We met Oliver in the future."

Right. Time travel. "You mean past you met future him? Or will meet him?"

His smirk was back as he walked around the railing and stepped up onto the platform. "Careful. Thinking too hard when you talk about time travel can break your brain, and I don't think your fiancé would like that either."

Felicity frowned. "I guess they didn't tell you. He's not my fiancé any more."

His expression turned serious. "They didn't. Uh… Sorry." He tilted his head curiously. "So why are you still here?"

"It's… complicated," Felicity answered. "We still have important work to do."

He leaned against her desk and held her eyes, studying her, giving her the uncomfortable impression he didn't quite believe her. Finally, to distract him, she said, "So, what about _your_ career in crime?"

One side of his mouth quirked up in a half-smile. "Barry and I made a deal. I behave myself and help them, and the S.T.A.R. Labs team keeps an eye out for the Waverider… our ship… without sending me back to Iron Heights or putting me in one of their metahuman cages in the particle accelerator." He shrugged. "I may not be comfortable wearing the white hat, but I'm doing what I have to so I can get back where I belong."

His gaze moved past her, caught by something just to her left. She glanced that direction to see what Quentin kept there: a pair of framed photos of Laurel and Sara in happier days. She smiled sadly at the picture of Laurel, but the smile faded when she looked back at Snart.

There was no trace of his habitual smirk, and the usual hard set of his blue-green eyes had melted away, replaced by want and sorrow.

She knew that look. It had been in Oliver's eyes when she returned his mother's ring.

And Quentin had said Sara was torn apart because she thought this man was dead.

Quietly, she asked, "And you belong with Sara, don't you?"

He blinked quickly a couple of times, as if blinking something away, before looking back at her. "I don't know if I have a right to say that," he answered, that rough tone back in his voice. "We weren't…" He paused, as if uncertain what to say, then took a breath to try again. "I never…" His voice trailed off again, and his gaze dropped back to the photo.

She pushed away from the desk and took a step closer to him, not quite enough to intrude into his personal space, but close enough that she could keep her voice soft. "You weren't, and you never, but it was what you wanted, wasn't it?" she asked him.

"What I wanted…" he whispered, still looking at the photo. A few more rapid blinks, and he looked back at her, guardedly. Finally, he said, "Felicity, touchy-feely isn't something I do. I learned not to trust people before you or Sara were even born."

"That's a lonely way to live," Felicity observed.

"Survival is a lonely business," he replied, his face closing up again. "And survival was what I was all about."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Really? Sara apparently thinks you died to save your team. So what happened to the survivor?"

He didn't answer. Instead he looked away from her, back at Sara's picture, and swallowed hard.

She moved just a tiny bit closer, her voice becoming even more quiet. "Barry thinks there's good in you. He says even as a criminal, you had a code."

He looked back at her and huffed out a little laugh. "Right, to never abandon one of my crew. But don't go thinking it was because I cared about anything but protecting my back. Even with Mick, my oldest friend, I broke the code more than once, just to save my own skin."

"Until you didn't," she pressed.

He drew in a breath and released it in a sigh. "Until I didn't," he admitted. "Until the Oculus. Mick would have died there for me, for Sara, for all of us, but I wouldn't let him."

"You were willing to die for them instead," Felicity said. She reached out and gently laid a hand on his arm, feeling the muscles tense briefly at the contact before relaxing. "Sounds like a guy in a white hat to me." Then she laughed, just a little. "Or maybe a guy in a green hood."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You're seriously comparing me to the Green Arrow?"

"Actually, to Oliver Queen," she corrected. "You two have more in common than you might think." She raised her hand to start ticking off points of similarity. "Trust issues, crossing the line for what you care about, even a bit of self-sacrifice. And your love for Sara Lance."

His breath caught a little at that. He looked back toward Sara's picture. For a man who said he "didn't do touchy-feely," he certainly wore his heart on his sleeve. She laid her hand back on that sleeve and gave his arm a little squeeze. "I can tell. Even if you weren't. Even if you never."

He took in another deep breath and let it out. "I tried, you know. To tell her. Just before the Oculus, I told her I'd been thinking about what the future held for me and her."

Felicity cocked her head at him. "And what happened?"

He laughed bitterly. "She was still pissed at me because I'd pulled the Cold Gun on her a few hours before."

Felicity's eyes widened in shock at that. He put his hands up and said, "I was in survival mode. I was a jerk. But I'd never _, never_ have hurt her." Another chuckle as he dropped his hands. "Hell, she could have broken both my arms before I could pull the trigger anyway. But… I'd seriously pissed her off, and she just told me if I wanted to steal a kiss I'd better be one hell of a thief."

Felicity grinned. "Knowing Sara, that sounds like a challenge."

That prompted a brief but genuine smile. "Probably. But I never got the chance to take her up on it." The smile faded. "Before I knew it, I was elbow-deep in the Oculus and she was kissing me goodbye."

He moved to the desk and picked up the photo, gently touching the image of Sara's face. "At least I got that much. I thought I was going to die happy, sticking it to the Time Bastards with her kiss on my lips."

"But instead…"

"Instead, I wound up in S.T.A.R. Labs." He put the photo back in place. "And now I'm just marking time until the Waverider comes back."

Felicity sighed. "I'm so sorry, Leonard, for everything that happened to you," she said. "For a guy who doesn't do feelings, you certainly know how to tug at someone's heartstrings."

Another bitter laugh. "The idea of someone pulling strings is what got me into this mess in the first place."

"Sounds like that's part of the long story you promised Quentin," Felicity said, and as if on cue, she heard the outer door opening to let Quentin and Cisco back in. They must have finished with the outside wiring. She leaned closer to Leonard and said in a whisper, "When you tell it… don't mention pulling the Cold Gun on Sara, okay?"

He smirked a little and nodded, and she blew out a sigh of relief. One thing Felicity had learned over the past few years: Sometimes you _had_ to keep a secret.

* * *

I expect at least one more part to this particular story.


	3. Chapter 3

AUTHOR's NOTE: I know, I have left this story languishing for months. The characters just weren't speaking to me in this reality for the longest time.

I hope this is worth the wait. Many thanks to Jael for the beta (and get better quick!).

* * *

The smell of garlic and tomato sauce was so thick, Leonard could almost taste it as he followed Lance into the dimly lit pizzeria. And as if the aroma wasn't enough, the music blaring from a jukebox in the corner could have knocked him off his feet.

"This is… interesting," Felicity said, looking around at the neon signs providing most of the illumination. A particularly garish one bore the joint's name, The Backboard, with a logo of a basketball net and, of course, a backboard.

Cisco tapped at one ear. "I might not be able to hear for a week," he said loudly.

Lance led them to a back room, where the music was muffled by a wall covered with vintage posters and memorabilia from the Starling City Rockets. As they settled around a corner table, he told them, "It may not look like much, but The Backboard's got the best pizza in town. I used to take Sara here after basketball games."

Leonard raised an eyebrow. The ambiance was more "dive" than "daddy-daughter date night." But then again, what did he know about it? Lewis Snart's idea of parent-child bonding had revolved around beatings and burglaries. The family that robs together…

Lance caught Leonard's expression and grinned. "It was our little secret. Her mother would've killed me if she knew I brought her here."

"Aww, Quentin, that's kind of sweet," Felicity cooed.

Lance rolled his eyes. "Listen, there's no table service here. Why don't you two…" he pointed at Felicity and Cisco, "go put an order in at the counter?"

"Sure," Cisco said, sliding from his seat. "What do you like on your pizza?"

"Almost everything," Lance replied. "But no Fs. No fish…"

"No fruit, and no funky stuff," Felicity said, Leonard joining her in the last part. She chuckled. "That's how Quentin always orders pizza. How did you know that one, Leonard?"

"Sara, of course," he answered with a smirk. He jerked his head toward Lance. "Now I know where she got it from."

"How can you not like Hawaiian pizza?" Cisco demanded incredulously.

"If God had meant for pizza to have pineapple, then pineapples would grow in Italy," Lance decreed. He waved in a shooing motion. "Go on, you two. I'm hungry."

Still chuckling, Felicity shook her head as she stood up. "You just want to interrogate Leonard without us around," she declared to Quentin with a glare.

Leonard chuckled. "Once a cop, always a cop. But I've been interrogated in worse places than this, Felicity."

"Maybe," Felicity conceded. She waggled a finger at them sternly. "But I don't want to miss any of your time travel story, so save it for when we get back!"

She followed Cisco to the counter. Lance shook his head with a soft laugh. "I know better than to cross Felicity when she starts defending someone," he said.

"I don't need defending," Leonard objected, while inwardly marveling that he was being defended at all, let alone by a young woman he'd once threatened.

"Says the man who was standing in front of my gun this morning," Lance scoffed. "If I was in your shoes, with your history, I wouldn't turn my nose up at a little defending."

Leonard considered that while Lance leaned back in his seat, looking at him appraisingly. "And I think I'm beginning to understand why she and Cisco are defensive of you," the older man said. "I talked with Joe West. Says you've actually been a big help to 'Team Flash.'" He smiled wryly while making air quotes.

Leonard shrugged. "Sometimes these heroes are so eager to do the right thing that they almost do the stupid thing. If I've done anything, I've made them think things through a little more."

He repressed a shudder, thinking about the last time he made Barry think things through. He'd stopped him from going back in time to save his mother because who knew what might have happened after that? It had been a near thing, and had forced him to let his guard down and open up more than was comfortable.

" _Barry, I tried to change my past. But Rip's always telling us that time wants to happen, and he was right. My old man still found a way to fuck up his life. Our lives. Some things just can't be fixed."_

Logic hadn't gotten through to Barry, so wracked by grief over losing his father. But raw honesty did get through. _"You know, Barry, I envy you, having a dad worth mourning."_

Lance's soft snort brought him back to the present. "Think you could do that for Oliver and his team? God knows they hardly ever listen to me."

Leonard snorted himself. "Queen would be even less likely to listen to _me_. I know he trash-talked about me to Palmer before we got on the Waverider."

"Oliver? Trash-talking? I'm _shocked_ ," Lance said sarcastically. Then he leaned forward and, in a low voice, said, "Y'know, Joe also told me something very interesting. Says the family of that first guy you froze to death got a big anonymous donation…"

He was interrupted by the return of Felicity and Cisco. "One extra-large almost-everything, no Fs, coming up!" Cisco announced. "We got a medium four-cheese, too. Although… there is an F in 'four.' Hope that's okay."

Grinning, he set a pair of pitchers on the table, one of beer and one of what looked like iced tea. Leonard remembered then that Sara told him her dad was a recovering alcoholic.

Felicity was watching them with narrowed eyes. Still ready to defend him? Then she smiled. "Looks like you've survived Quentin's third degree so far," she said, depositing the four plastic tumblers she was carrying, along with a small sign with the number 52 before taking the seat next to Leonard. "You haven't told any of your time travel story yet, have you?"

Leonard gave her a half-smile, pouring himself a beer. "Nope. You told me not to, and I hear I shouldn't get you mad at me."

Felicity dimpled at that, and he launched into his story.

* * *

A few crusts were all that remained of "the best pizza in town" when Leonard finished talking. Felicity wiped at her eyes, and even Cisco looked somber.

"Dude, you never said…" Cisco said softly.

"About me and Sara? You and the rest of Team Flash didn't need to know," Leonard answered. "But Sara's dad is another story, and despite opinions… and maybe some evidence to the contrary… I do have _some_ sense of right and wrong when it comes to dads and their daughters. I'd want to know about anything like that for Lisa."

Cisco shifted uncomfortably under Leonard's gaze. "Um, about that…"

"Not now, Cisco," Leonard interrupted, shifting his attention to Lance. The older man had closed his eyes after hearing about the kiss Sara had given Leonard at the Oculus, and they were still closed now, his head resting against his steepled hands.

"Quentin?" Felicity asked quietly.

He let out a sigh, lowered his hands and opened his eyes. "You never get used to the idea of your child walking into danger," he said, meeting Leonard's gaze. "But I feel a little better knowing your team has her back, and that you'll do the same when you get back to them."

Leonard started to nod in agreement, but then…

Perhaps too much of Barry Allen had rubbed off on him. Maybe it was the echo of what he'd just told Cisco: _"I do have some sense of right and wrong when it comes to dads and their daughters."_

Or it might have been an even older echo of something he'd told Sara. " _That's not you anymore."_

The liar that hurt people… that wasn't him anymore. Hadn't been for a long time.

Whatever it was, something prodded Leonard to ignore Felicity's well-intended advice and say, "I didn't always have her back. Or theirs."

Felicity's eyes widened in alarm, while Lance's narrowed a little. "How's that?"

Leonard took a deep breath, ignoring the slight shake of Felicity's head. "At the Vanishing Point. I tried to force her to take the Waverider out of there, even if it meant leaving the team behind. I pulled the Cold Gun on her."

Felicity let out a little squeak of dismay and Cisco's jaw dropped, while Lance regarded him steadily.

"It surprised her, but then she just stared down the barrel at me, no fear in her eyes at all, and dared me to shoot her," Leonard went on. "It was as if she knew I was just a scared jerk who could never hurt her. If Gideon hadn't called us right then, I…"

He paused. His talk with Barry might have pushed him out of his comfort zone, but this…

This was like walking back into Mick's cell, uncertain of how it would all turn out, but knowing he had to do it.

" _I'd want to know about anything like that for Lisa."_

Another deep breath, and then he said, "I'd have dropped the gun and kissed her, because that's when I realized we were more than flirting and card games. That she _trusted_ me, and that's why she wasn't afraid."

He paused again, remembering how Sara's blue eyes remained on his, just as her father's were locked on him now; the way his gun hand had trembled as they stared each other down; the feeling that had swept through him when she challenged him by stepping closer to the gun, driving him back a step—not in fear of her, but of what he felt for her. "That's when I knew I loved her."

He heard Cisco's quick intake of breath, Felicity's little sigh. He blew out a sigh of his own. "I never told her so, though. Later I gave her a half-assed apology for pulling the gun, and said I'd been wondering about the future, but that was just dancing around the truth like we'd been dancing around each other for months."

He leaned toward Lance, holding his gaze. "I do love your daughter. When the Waverider comes back, I'll tell her so, and I'll give her a real apology for being a scared jerk. But until then, I want to apologize to you and let you know that despite the past, I will always have her back."

Felicity now had both hands over her mouth. Cisco was glancing back and forth between the other two men. "Uh, does this mean you're gonna pull your gun again, Captain Lance? Because…"

"Relax, Cisco," Lance said quietly, holding up a hand while his eyes were still locked on Leonard. "I'm not gonna do anything. I… I appreciate the honesty, Mr. Snart. You didn't have to tell me any of that, and I respect that you didn't take the easy way out."

"Um, as long as we're being honest?" Felicity interjected. "I told Leonard not to tell you that part of the story because I thought you'd freak out."

"I'm sure you meant well, Felicity, but… as long as we're being honest… I have no right to criticize Mr. Snart… Leonard." Lance paused and took a deep breath. "Because I pointed a gun at Sara first."

Leonard went very, very still as Felicity gasped and Cisco's eyes grew wide.

"Actually, I did it twice," Lance went on in a heavy voice. "The first time was when she first came back from the League of Assassins."

He gave them a little half-shrug. "In my defense, I didn't know it was her. I mean, I still thought she'd died on the _Gambit_. Felicity had just warned me about the League, and then one night, this shadowy figure came toward me on the street, so I pulled my gun. When Sara stepped into the light, I didn't believe it at first, but then I heard her voice… and… I knew my baby girl had come home. The second time…"

Now there was a bit of a sob in Lance's voice. "It was after the Pit, before that… magician gave her back her soul. She was… wild, dangerous. Out of control. Damien Darhk told me the kindest thing I could do for her was put a bullet in her brain."

He shook his head and said bitterly, "I was fool enough to believe him. So I went down to the basement where Laurel had her chained up. I aimed my gun at her and told her I was sorry… but she wasn't my baby girl anymore."

He dropped his head into his hands now, avoiding their eyes. "Laurel stopped me, thank God."

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment. Then Lance scrubbed his hands over his face and looked back up at them. "There isn't anyone on this earth who hasn't been a scared jerk at some point in his life. Nobody knows that better than me. I'm not gonna cast stones, Leonard."

"Think you can make sure Oliver won't cast any arrows?" Felicity asked.

"We'll have to tag-team on that one, Felicity," Lance replied with a slight laugh. Then he focused on Leonard again. "Owning up to what you did... there's an old-fashioned word for that. _Integrity_."

Leonard sat back a little and blinked. "First Barry says I have honor, then Felicity compares me to Oliver Queen…"

"You _what_?" Cisco stage-whispered to Felicity.

She stage-whispered back, "You had to be there."

Leonard smirked at them. "And now you tell me I have integrity. Never thought I'd hear a cop..."

"Ex-cop," Lance corrected.

"Once a cop, always a cop," Leonard countered. "And I never thought I'd ever hear one say anything good about me. But…" The smirk vanished. "Sara talked about having the power to change our fates."

Lance smiled wryly. "You just never expected yours to change this much."

Leonard shook his head. "No. But… don't any of you go thinking I'm ready to get fitted for a white hat."

"Or a green hood?" Felicity asked with a smile, getting a nod and a chuckle in return.

"Oh! Dude! I've got an idea for a replacement for that old parka of yours!" Cisco said excitedly. He stopped himself suddenly. "That is, if you're really done with being a bad guy even after the Waverider comes back."

Leonard considered the young engineer for a long moment. Sara's voice echoed in his mind.

" _Don't act like you're that same cold-hearted bastard that I first met."_

Finally, he said, "I don't know if you could call me a good guy, but I don't think any of my old crew would see me as a bad guy, either. My dad sure wouldn't. But I've learned there are more important things than money."

Cisco gave that some thought, then said, "I can work with that." He leaned forward over the table, his face becoming animated. "So, I'm thinking midnight blue leather with accents to match the Cold Gun. Kevlar lined of course…"

Leonard just let Cisco's technobabble wash over him as he met Lance's eyes again. The older man gave him a nod, and he felt a loosening in his chest of a tightness he hadn't even been aware of.

He heard Sara's voice again. _"If we have the power to change the world, don't you think we have the power to change our own fate?"_

And his own answer. _"For better or for worse."_

Between Mick and Chronos and Savage and the Time Bastards, he'd had his fill of "worse."

This… as unfamiliar as it was, as discomfiting as it was….

This was definitely better.


	4. Chapter 4

AUTHOR'S NOTE: And now we come to what I originally had in mind for this story... before Felicity and Cisco hijacked it! (And therefore made it much better.)

Many thanks to Jael for the beta. And yeah, I know... I've got to do some follow-ups!

Thanks to you readers who've been so patient, too. I started this an awfully long time ago and I'm sorry you wound up waiting so long for the completion.

* * *

Their work was nearly finished, and Leonard was packing up the toolkit when Lance walked back into the Arrowcave (silly name) the next afternoon, carrying a small paper shopping bag.

"All set to head to the train station when you're ready, gentlemen," he said. "How's it looking, Felicity?"

She looked up from the computer display where she and Cisco were working. "Shipshape and Bristol fashion," she answered. Then, after a beat, she asked, "What does that mean, anyway?"

Lance snorted. "Apparently it means I need to find more modern expressions!" he said, exchanging an eyeroll with Leonard.

"Don't look at me," Leonard chuckled. "I've been wishing Gideon's ingestible translators could sort out Cisco's technobabble."

Cisco jerked up straight. "Ingestible... translator? Really?"

Leonard nodded. "Really. By the way, did you know you talk in your sleep in Spanish?"

Cisco's eyes widened. "I do?"

Leonard smirked inwardly at the little bit of dread in the younger man's voice, and replied sternly, "Yeah, and we need to talk about the things you were saying about my sister."

Now Cisco went pale. "Hey, now, I can't be held responsible for what goes on in my subconscious when I'm not even awake!" When Leonard merely kept _looking_ at him, he gulped and said, "Can I?"

Leonard let him hang there for just another moment, then let the smirk show. "Relax, kid. The translator stopped working a long time ago." Before he'd even left the Waverider, in fact. "But judging from your reaction, we still need to talk."

He winked at Felicity, who was grinning. Lance was snickering. Cisco looked around at them and huffed, "So this is the thanks I get? You might want to stay on my good side, Captain Cold, since I still have to set up the software so Team Arrow can search for the Waverider. "

"You mean the software that will let me know when my baby girl comes back to town?" Lance asked, giving Cisco a sidelong look.

Cisco threw his hands up in resignation. "All right, all right. Let's finish this up, Felicity. As for you..." He glared with lowered eyebrows at Leonard, who schooled his face into a serious expression while the two tech experts turned back to their computers.

That expression only lasted until he looked at Sara's father, who was still snickering a little. The two men exchanged a grin. Then Lance approached Leonard, offering him the little bag he'd been holding. "Brought something for you."

Still smiling, Leonard raised an eyebrow and tilted his head curiously as he accepted the bag. Looking inside it, his grin gave way to a small _oh_ of surprise at its contents.

The first item he pulled out was a framed picture of Sara, matching the one on Lance's desk. Next came a small white photo album, filled with pictures of Sara. One of them showed her as a little girl, smiling at a canary in a cage while a much younger Quentin Lance looked on fondly. Leonard couldn't help it; he smiled at the image too.

"There's one more thing in there," Lance said softly.

Leonard reached into the bag again and found a small flash drive. As he stared at it, Lance said, "The first time Sara came back from the League, she told me the sound of someone's voice is usually the first thing a person forgets. I always remembered that. So I keep her voicemails and Laurel's on my phone, because I never want to forget what my girls sound like."

The older man's voice shook a little at that. Leonard felt an unfamiliar pang of sympathy, knowing those recordings were the only way Laurel's voice would ever be heard again.

Lance cleared his throat loudly, as if burying his grief to speak again. "Joe told me you have an eidetic memory, but… I thought you might want to be able to hear Sara's voice too. So I copied her messages onto that flash drive. It plugs into a phone or a computer, so you can listen wherever you want. Whenever… whenever you miss her."

"That's going to be a lot," Leonard answered quietly, his hand closing over the drive as if it was a precious jewel. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before meeting the other man's gaze again. "This means a lot to me, Mr. Lance…"

"Quentin."

Leonard nodded. "Quentin. Thank you. I'm… not used to police officers being kind. Not to me, anyway."

A slight twitch of the former cop's lips. "Well. From what I've heard from my sources, and from what you told me last night, I think you're long overdue for some kindness." Quentin leaned toward him, and in a lower voice added, "I don't think I have to tell you that all bets are off if you break her heart." But there was a little twinkle of humor in his eye as he said it, and one side of Leonard's mouth lifted up in a half-smile.

Anything he might have said in return was interrupted by a beeping tone from his phone, and from Quentin's. They exchanged a look and pulled their phones out while Felicity clapped her hands together in excitement. "It worked!"

The words _THIS IS A TEST_ were scrolling across both screens, followed by a set of numbers and letters. Navigational readings, Leonard realized.

"So, what exactly have you done here?" Quentin asked. "In English, please."

Felicity rose from her chair to walk over to them. "We've set up a Waverider text alert for each of you."

"My software now monitors not only the STAR Labs satellite but also ARGUS listening posts around the world," Cisco said.

"It's not espionage or anything. We got Lyla's okay first," Felicity added quickly. When Leonard gave her a puzzled look, she said, "Digg's wife. Director of ARGUS."

Leonard raised his eyebrows and nodded, impressed. He hadn't known Team Arrow had friends in such high places.

Cisco picked up the explanation. "If the Waverider's temporal signature is detected anywhere in the world, you'll get an alert with latitude and longitude."

"So the next time the Waverider comes to the present…" Leonard said.

Felicity reached for his phone. "Just tap the text, and you'll be able to see the place on the map." She demonstrated with a tap on the screen, and a map of Star City appeared, with a red X indicating the Arrowcave. "X marks the spot," she said cheerfully.

Then she gave the screen some more taps. After a minute, she said, "There. I've programmed Quentin's number in, and mine." She smiled as she handed the phone back to him. "In case you ever need to talk."

He couldn't help but return the smile. "And you've got mine, in case _you_ ever need to talk," he said. Then he leaned in toward her and added in a low voice, "And if you ever need me to knock some sense into Oliver Queen for splitting up with you, just call."

Felicity's eyes widened, and she looked a little flustered. " _I_ split up with _him_ ," she corrected.

Leonard smirked. "For reasons that are completely _his_ fault, I'm sure."

She turned a little pink under his knowing gaze. "I think I see what Sara likes so much about you," she said. She stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "We're going to get you back where you belong, Leonard. Promise."

* * *

Cisco leaned back and tapped through the different images of Captain Cold on his tablet, starting with Snart's original parka: Fine as insulation against snowballs, but otherwise completely tactically inadequate. Just as well he'd left that behind on the Waverider.

Then there was the short black leather jacket he'd been wearing lately. Clean lines and flexible enough for him to move in, but not very protective, as evidenced by the ruins of the original jacket he'd been wearing when… whatever-it-was had spat him out of the Speed Cannon.

That was easily fixed: the jacket could be lined with Kevlar. But stylistically… _boring_.

Another tap brought up a rendering of Snart in a blue leather jacket, with his usual black jeans, pullover and combat boots. Cisco frowned a little, then started changing the image with his stylus. Keep the color scheme, but make it all out of the same tri-polymer he used in the speedster suits for durability and protection against cold, super-speed friction and the occasional conventional weapon. (Not that they saw much "conventional" these days.) Footgear… Snart's own combat boots were a bit stiff, so he could upgrade those to something a little more flexible, like the ones the special forces guys wore. Top it all off with Snart's goggles.

Cisco studied his work. Snart would like it well enough. But… it still wasn't _right_. He sighed, put the tablet down and stretched before rising. A little walk would help clear his head.

He rambled from his workshop to the empty Cortex. The team had gone home, and Snart had apparently retired to the quarters that had once been used by Earth-2's Harrison and Jesse Wells.

Cisco wandered to the desk they'd let Snart take over. Sara's photo sat in a place of honor, a red rose in a small bud vase beside it. Cisco smiled softly; Snart couldn't claim he was really all that cold anymore.

No, not Snart. _Leonard,_ Cisco corrected himself, thinking about their conversation on the train ride back from Star City.

" _If you're thinking about dating my sister, you may as well call me by my first name, Cisco,"_ Leonard had said.

" _You mean… you don't mind?"_

The (ex?) supervillain had sighed. _"Lisa does what she wants. And you're both adults. I won't even give you the 'if you break her heart' speech because I know you're a decent guy. Lisa needs more decent in her life."_

Something flashing on Leonard's computer monitor caught Cisco's eye. It wasn't the Waverider alert, unfortunately. Just the MP3 player, cycling through a file on a continuous loop. Cisco cocked his head curiously and pulled out the headphone jack so the sound would play through the speakers.

" _Hi, it's me, Sara. Just calling to say I love you and I miss you. I'll see you soon._ click _Hi, it's me, Sara. Just calling to say I love you and I miss you. I'll see you soon._ click _Hi, it's me, Sara. Just calling to say I love you…"_

Cisco plugged the headphones back in and sighed heavily, looking at Sara's photo. "I hope we see you soon, Sara," he said softly.

As he studied her picture, an idea began to grow. He closed his eyes, letting the image solidify in his mind. Once he had it, he opened his eyes again.

Whistling, he strolled back to his workshop.


End file.
